Originally preached Nov 11, 2012.

Knowing me as you do, you can imagine how happy I was when Jesus told me that I could send you this letter from Heaven. I marvel over the fact that Jesus always keeps His promises especially when He gives me another one of my heart’s desires.(Psalm 37:4) A rather large crowd of joyful men, women and children welcomed me into heaven. There wasn’t a single wrinkled brow or frown on anyone’s face. They were jumping up and down and clapping their hands and shouting: “Welcome Home, welcome home!” I quickly scanned the crowd to see if there was anyone I knew, but there wasn’t. The dumbstruck look on my face must have been the signal for them to stop and become silent.

Then a beautiful woman whom I had never seen before quickly ran towards me with outstretched arms, flung them around me and whispered softly in my ear: “Welcome home son, welcome home!” She was my mom who had died many years ago, a woman whom I love and missed greatly. The last time I had seen her was just before she died. Her final illness had ravaged her frail body. Looking at her was emotionally draining for each of her loved ones. But not anymore! Wait till you see her, she’s a knock-out!

It was great to know that my memory remained intact when I died and entered eternity just as the rich man’s memory did. Do you remember the parable Jesus told about him and the beggar? Here it is.

²⁴ ” ’Father Abraham,’ he shouted, ’have some pity! Send Lazarus over here if only to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in these flames.’ ²⁵ “But Abraham said to him, ’Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted and you are in anguish. ²⁶ And besides, there is a great chasm separating us, and anyone wanting to come to you from here is stopped at its edge; and no one over there can cross to us.’

²⁷ “Then the rich man said, ’O Father Abraham, then please send him to my father’s home— ²⁸ for I have five brothers—to warn them about this place of torment lest they come here when they die.’ ²⁹ “But Abraham said, ’The Scriptures have warned them again and again. Your brothers can read them any time they want to.’ ³⁰ “The rich man replied, ’No, Father Abraham, they won’t bother to read them. But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will turn from their sins.’ ³¹ “But Abraham said, ’If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even though someone rises from the dead.’ “Luke 16:24-31 (TLB)

The ability to think clearly and process my thoughts was a welcome relief. I felt like a new man, and, thanks to Jesus I was! My Mom clasped my left arm and guided me toward the joyous crowd of strangers. I soon discovered that I knew every one of them. It was impossible to tell who was happier, me or the folks who had suffered awful afflictions before they died, afflictions such as quadriplegia, spinal-bifida, Down’s-Syndrome, Muscular Dystrophy and Spinal Meningitis. There were also people who had suffered horrible facial disfigurements such as Cleft-Palate and victims of enraged fanatics who had acid thrown on their face. But the One who had suffered the most was Jesus whose body was no longer recognizable as being a human being after He was scourged, crowned with thorns and crucified. The Prophet Isaiah described what Jesus looked like.

¹³ “Just watch my servant blossom! Exalted, tall, head and shoulders above the crowd! ¹⁴ But he didn’t begin that way. At first everyone was appalled. He didn’t even look human— a ruined face, disfigured past recognition. Isaiah 52:13-14 (MSG)

I had been yearning for years that when I got to heaven I would meet folks through whom God used to comfort, encourage and inspire me. People such as Moses, Joseph, Rehab, Abraham and Sarah and Ruth as well as each of the New Testament giants of the faith, such as Joseph and Mary and her cousin Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah and their son, John the Baptist and of course, each of the apostles. Don’t ever lose sight of the fact that God is transforming you into the likeness of Jesus. (Romans 8:29) He wants you to love Him.

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. Matthew 22:37-38 (NIV)

Before I died I had an insatiable desire to know and to understand everything I possibly could about God. Well guess what? I now know that my desire will never be satisfied in heaven. As I’m becoming more and more in love with Jesus my heart is expanding and growing larger. My capacity to love Him more and more is infinite as is the never-ending universe. King David described the same thrilling experience.

³² I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart. Psalm 119:32 (KJV)

³² I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart! Psalm 119:32 (ESV)

It will be different for you though because you are still alive on earth. I’ll try to explain. As your heart expands and grows larger it increases your capacity to experience pleasure, but it will also increase your capacity to absorb pain. There is no pain in heaven, but there’s lots of it on earth. You should view suffering as being spiritual growing pains. During such times of horrible anguish you MUST trust God or else you will do a big time number on yourself.

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul told those first century Christians who were suffering horrendous persecution what they should do in such circumstances, and so should you. Bear in mind that he wrote this letter while he was under house arrest awaiting execution.

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. Philippians 4:4-8 (NIV)

Here are some examples of the things you should be thinking about. Meditate on these passages frequently. Stick them on your refrigerator door.

³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)

²² Pile your troubles on GOD’s shoulders— he’ll carry your load, he’ll help you out. He’ll never let good people topple into ruin. Psalm 55:22 (MSG)

When I was alive on earth I discovered that the more I plumed the depths of the Sacred Scriptures, the more I realized how shallow my understanding of them actually is. It was as though I was trying to see and to understand Him while looking through a dense fog. The Apostle Paul explained my dilemma in his first letter to the Corinthian Christians.

¹² In the same way, we can see and understand only a little about God now, as if we were peering at his reflection in a poor mirror; but someday we are going to see him in his completeness, face to face. Now all that I know is hazy and blurred, but then I will see everything clearly, just as clearly as God sees into my heart right now. 1 Corinthians 13:12 (TLB)

² Yes, dear friends, we are already God’s children, right now, and we can’t even imagine what it is going to be like later on. But we do know this, that when he comes we will be like him, as a result of seeing him as he really is. 1 John 3:2 (TLB)

Now that I’m in heaven I can see and understand Him clearly and so will you when you die and come home. Until then you can be sure I’m still concerned about you and that I’ll be constantly praying for you. The bottom line is that, for folks who believe in Christ; death doesn’t break the tie that binds their hearts in Christian love! Past that one on the fridge door also. I’m looking forward to seeing the expression on your face at the moment of our reunion in heaven.

Here’s some more great news. You are not going to become a different person when you are in heaven. You will still have the same personality but it won’t be tainted with as much as a speck of sin. You will still be you. Don’t forget that your sins have been washed away by the Precious Blood of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

^{11 …}“Now your sins are washed away, and you are set apart for God; and he has accepted you because of what the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God have done for you. 1 Corinthians 6:11 (TLB)

O how I’m looking forward to showing you around when we are reunited in heaven. You can’t imagine how wonderful it is. This is how the Apostle Paul described it.

⁹ However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”– 1 Corinthians 2:9 (NIV)

Here’s a tasty nugget which will whet your appetite for wanting to go to heaven. In fact, you will reach the point where you will yearn to leave the sin drenched world and go there.

¹ Later Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Lake of Galilee. This is how it happened: ² A group of us were there—Simon Peter, Thomas, “The Twin,” Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, my brother James and I and two other disciples. ³ Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come too,” we all said. We did, but caught nothing all night. ⁴ At dawn we saw a man standing on the beach but couldn’t see who he was. ⁵ He called, “Any fish, boys?” “No,” we replied. ⁶ Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get plenty of them!” So we did, and couldn’t draw in the net because of the weight of the fish, there were so many! ⁷ Then I said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” At that, Simon Peter put on his tunic (for he was stripped to the waist) and jumped into the water [and swam ashore].

⁸ The rest of us stayed in the boat and pulled the loaded net to the beach, about 300 feet away. ⁹ When we got there, we saw that a fire was kindled and fish were frying over it, and there was bread. ¹⁰ “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus said. ¹¹ So Simon Peter went out and dragged the net ashore. By his count there were 153 large fish; and yet the net hadn’t torn. ¹² “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said; and none of us dared ask him if he really was the Lord, for we were quite sure of it. ¹³ Then Jesus went around serving us the bread and fish. John 21:1-13 (TLB)

They saw Jesus in His resurrected body. He spoke to them, cooked, served and ate breakfast with them. When you die and come to heaven, you will have a resurrected body just as I do now. In the parable I quoted earlier the rich man was obviously someone we would characterize as being a good man. He truly cared about his brothers who were still alive. Nevertheless, he didn’t wind up in heaven when he died. He didn’t believe in the only Person who could gain him entry, the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Ponder the following passages.

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; John 11:25 (NIV)

⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 (NIV)

In closing my October 21^st sermon, I referenced the previous one in which I said: “I want to say that I purposely depicted a rather graphic description of the excruciating agony Jesus endured on His cross because of His incomprehensible love for sinners such as me and you. The magnitude of the pain Jesus suffered was a zillion times less than the pain which will be experienced in Hell by folks who refuse to believe in Him and accept The Gift Of Everlasting Joy.”

None of us know when we will die and enter into eternity. It could be much sooner that you think. If you haven’t already done so I plead with you not to wait another second. Please don’t drive out of the parking lot without asking Jesus to forgive you.

I’m sorry but that’s all I have time for now! I just received word that Jesus wants to see me. Lord willing, next week …

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For those of you who want to look deeper into this subject there are a couple of excellent books that I recommend.

One Minute After You Die, by Erwin W. Lutzer.

The Sacred Romance, by Brent Curtis & John Eldredge

Heaven and Hell, by Edward Donnelly.